At War With Love
by givemelovelikeklaroline
Summary: Klaus left the small town of Mystic Falls for New Orleans, but thoughts of one girl kept pulling at him. He had to see her again: "What's in New Orleans, Klaus?" she asked, needing to know what finally pulled him away from her. "A mistake."


"_**I wish you weren't the best, the best I ever had. **_

_**I wish that the good outweighed the bad. **_

_**But it'll never be over until you tell me it's over."**_

Caroline was running with a single thought repeating in her mind like a mantra: _can't stop, can't stop, can't stop._ Even her vampire speed couldn't help her escape her worst nightmare.

Trying to think up a plan to help her outrun her predators, Caroline was caught unaware as a hand came out of an alley and yanked her side-ways. She collided with a hard body as a hand clamped around her mouth, cutting off the scream building in her throat.

"Shh, love. It's me. I've got you."

_Klaus. _Her heart sighed in relief. But only for a moment.

"Klaus, we have to go! We have to get out of here!" she whispered furiously. "They're coming for me! They want me dead!"

Klaus tried to calm her down. "I know, Caroline, _I know. _It's okay. I'll take care of you."

But Caroline was beyond consoling. "How?! Klaus, the witches I killed are back, and they want revenge!"

"So do the hybrids I killed!" Klaus snapped back. Taking a deep breath, Klaus tried again, "Caroline, do you trust me?"

The question seemed to snap her out of the hysteria she was in. Caroline studied him for a moment before responding, "yes."

Until that moment, Klaus didn't know just how much he needed to hear her say that. As the weight lifted off his chest, he grabbed her hand and said, "then come with me."

Caroline ran with him as fast as her vampire speed would let her until they reached his mansion. When he stopped in the foyer, Caroline jerked her hand out of his grasp and turned on him. "Are you insane?! Don't you think this is the first place they're going to come looking for you?"

"We're outside city limits, sweetheart. They can't get to us here," Klaus said guiding her into his sitting room, where he proceeded to build a fire.

"But we can't stay here forever! I have to go back… my mom…" Caroline trailed off as the panic began to creep back in.

"She's safe. I left her in her home with a witch I brought back from New Orleans. The witch is going to put the veil back up. This will all be sorted out soon enough. You can relax, Caroline," Klaus said approaching her. "Just stay here until your mother calls to say it's safe again."

"New Orleans…" Caroline's mind grasped at the one thing that intrigued her. "That's right, you left."

Caroline meant to say it with indifference, as if she didn't listen to the voicemail he left her a dozen times, but Klaus heard the underlying bitterness in her tone. It gave him hope that maybe she didn't like his leaving her behind.

"Did you miss me, Caroline?" he asked softly, hoping she'd stop fighting the attraction between them.

But Caroline only scoffed. Klaus shook his head, trying not to be disappointed and said, "I heard about the veil dropping—"

"And you decided to come back to play hero and save the town?" Caroline interrupted. "Don't pretend you care about anybody here, because I know you don't."

"I care about you," Klaus said as if that was enough. "I don't care about much, Caroline. I certainly don't care about trivial human rites of passage… but you do. And I care about you."

Taking a step closer he quietly confessed, "so I wanted to see you smile as you graduated. I wanted to see you happy… I never meant to leave without saying goodbye."

Unsure of how to respond, Caroline just blinked at him. "That's what Silas said."

"Silas?" Klaus asked, thoroughly confused.

Caroline nodded. "He tried to get to me."

This piqued his interest. "Silas tried to get to you through me?"

Again Caroline nodded, more slowly this time, knowing the connection he was making in his mind.

Stepping close enough that Caroline could feel his breath on her cheek, Klaus whispered, "did it work?"

Caroline didn't answer. She didn't need to. Klaus read the answer in the tumultuous emotion she kept hidden in her eyes. Raising a tentative hand, Klaus brushed away the strands of hair that fell onto her face as she looked down at the space between them.

Tilting her head up to the side, she studied him. "What's in New Orleans, Klaus?" she asked, needing to know what finally pulled him away from her, when she had been trying to be rid of his enticing presence for a year now.

She felt him retreat from her, and it startled her to realize she felt a resentment towards whatever it was that put that faraway look in his eyes. He was always so focused on her when they were together, but whatever it was in New Orleans had the power to pull him away from her. Caroline didn't like this feeling at all.

"A mistake," he answered, looking at some spot over her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked, a feeling of apprehension coming over her.

Klaus dropped his hand from where it rested on her shoulder and stepped back. Looking into her eyes, he continued gravely, "I made a mistake, Caroline. One I wish, more than anything, I could take back."

Not able to take the lost look in her eyes without wanting to confess all the gory details of what he had done, he walked back toward the fireplace. "But I can't."

Caroline stood rooted to her spot as she considered the intense regret she just witnessed in his eyes. A part of her knew she probably didn't want to know, but needing to ask, she whispered "what did you do, Klaus?"

"I threw away the best thing I had in a moment of self-loathing," he laughed humorlessly.

Knowing she deserved an explanation, and needing her to understand, Klaus turned back to face her. "That night you said I loved you… I didn't want to believe it. I never experienced the emotion before and didn't know it felt this overwhelming. I didn't know what to do with the feeling!" His voice rose in frustration.

Caroline watched him pace as he continued, "Part of me did want to believe it though… I wanted to be capable of feeling for you the things you need a man to feel for you. But another part didn't want to let you have such a hold on me! I was determined to undermine the feeling I mocked my siblings about for centuries! And… I made a mistake," he finished coming to a halt before her.

He hadn't really explained, but Caroline got the gist of what happened. And then she felt something she never expected to feel due to Klaus: her heart cracked.

Caroline loved Tyler. She really did. So feeling her heart break because of the man that drove him away, Caroline realized that she felt something for Klaus as well. Not completely unwelcome, but wholly overwhelming, the feeling had been growing in her heart since the day he promised her all the beauty in the world, as she lay dying in her bed from a werewolf bite.

But there was nothing she could do about it now. Klaus had moved on. Or tried to. And now he was leaving, for good this time.

Klaus watched her as she processed his words. She was a smart girl, she could make the connections. Sure, she couldn't come to the conclusion of the child his mistake had resulted in, but she got the message.

"Do you love _her,_ now? Your 'mistake'?" Caroline questioned brokenly, still overwhelmed by the sadness she felt in her heart.

Klaus made a face that almost mirrored disgust. Stepping up to her, Klaus cupped her face so she could see the truth in his eyes. "Listen to me, Caroline. A thousand years I spent roaming this Earth, and I've only ever felt this… _this,_" he reiterated, not able to utter the 'L' word aloud, "for you. Only ever for you, Caroline."

Finally seeing past her own pain, Caroline was able to see the regret and sadness in his eyes. "_Duty_ calls me to New Orleans, sweetheart," he said in his gravelly tone that sent shivers down her spine. "But my mind is forever on you."

Trailing the hands that cupped her face down her arms, he twined his fingers around hers and said, "if you're ever able to look past my mistake… ever able to take me as I am… you know where I'll be. Come to me, Caroline," he pleaded, "and I'll give you the words you deserve to hear from me."

Letting go of her, Klaus hesitated a moment before leaning in to place a whisper-soft kiss on her cheek.

Caroline felt tears begin to form in her eyes as she watched him walk away from her for the last time. Her heart skipped a beat when he paused in the doorway.

"I have to leave for now, but I will never let go of you, Caroline. Not till you come make me."

**In between studying for finals, I just had to get this out! Please review and let me know if you liked it!**

**P.S. this is just a one-shot I posted on tumblr. Sometimes I only post my one-shots on my blog, but if people seem to like it, I'll add them here on FF. I _might _do another one shot similar to this after the finale, but it'll probably be on my tumblr (givemelovelikeklaroline). So follow me there if you'd like to read it :)  
**


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